Front Line Op-Ed: Sport Integrity – From Written Rules to Organisational Accountability

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Launched on 4 June 2026 in Record, Portugal’s leading sports newspaper, SIGA’s weekly opinion column Linha da Frente (Front Line, in Portuguese) provides a dedicated platform to address issues at the heart of SIGA’s global agenda, including Sport Integrity, good governance, transparency, accountability, financial integrity, sports betting integrity, sustainability, youth development and protection, and the future of sport.

Click to read this week’s article in Portuguese.

Sport Integrity: From Written Rules to Organisational Accountability

By Roberto Fiore
Member, SIGA Council; Managing Partner, LP Avvocati

Integrity is the foundation of sport’s credibility and of the trust that athletes, fans, sponsors and institutions place in competition. In recent years the sector has adopted codes of ethics, regulations and oversight bodies. A fundamental challenge nonetheless remains: ensuring that these instruments translate into effective and verifiable practice within organisations.

The Italian experience offers a useful reference point. Legislative Decree No. 231/2001 introduced the administrative liability of legal entities for certain offences committed in their interest or to their advantage, while recognising that the adoption and effective implementation of an organisation, management and control model may exempt them from liability. Over more than twenty years of application, a clear principle has emerged: a model is adequate only if it rests on a genuine risk assessment, a coherent system of delegated powers and procedures, sound oversight of financial flows and supervision by a body endowed with autonomy and independence.

This principle is particularly relevant to professional sport, now an economic sector of primary importance. Player transfers, intermediary fees, broadcasting rights, sponsorships and relationships with betting operators involve significant financial flows and, consequently, specific risk profiles. Corruption, money laundering, conflicts of interest and competition manipulation take hold wherever decision-making processes lack transparency and controls are insufficient.

Sport integrity must therefore be addressed not only as a matter of individual ethics, but as a question of governance and organisational structure. Clubs, leagues and federations have a responsibility to put in place structured systems that prevent misconduct and help bring it to light: mapping of sensitive processes, segregation of duties, counterparty due diligence, traceability of decisions and reporting channels that guarantee whistleblower protection.

A further element is decisive: independent verification. Self-assessment cannot offer stakeholders the assurance provided by external scrutiny. In this respect, the Universal Standards developed by SIGA and the SIGA Independent Rating and Verification System (SIRVS) provide a common and measurable benchmark for good governance, financial integrity and betting integrity. The certification obtained by Liga Portugal is a significant signal, and we hope it will be followed by other leagues and federations across Europe.

Likewise, the standards required of listed companies or of businesses contracting with public authorities should apply to organisations that manage substantial resources and, above all, a heritage of collective trust. Fans, sponsors and commercial partners are fully fledged stakeholders with legitimate interests and are entitled to an appropriate level of transparency.

Compliance, however, must not become a mere formality. An effective control system must be proportionate to the size of the organisation and to its actual risk profile. An amateur club and a professional league have different needs, but both require clear rules on decision-making powers, the management of resources and accountability.

Sport demands loyalty and respect for the rules from its protagonists. It is only consistent to expect the same commitment from the institutions that govern it, through clear rules, effective controls and genuinely independent oversight bodies. Integrity cannot simply be declared: it must be organised, measured and demonstrated over time.

– THE END –

Previous Front Line articles

ABOUT SIGA

SIGA is the world’s leading organisation for Sport Integrity. We are creating a whole new landscape for the sports industry by delivering independent global rating and certification for world Sport to ensure it is governed and operates under the highest integrity standards: The SIGA Universal Standards.

Funded by our Members, SIGA is a non for profit global independent organisation with one aim: To ensure the sport  industry is governed under the highest integrity standards so that the values of sport are protected.

SIGA is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.

SIGA is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, as a non for-profit association, and comprises of the following continental subsidiaries: SIGA AMERICA, SIGA ASIA, SIGA EUROPE and SIGA LATIN AMERICA.

For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com and FAQs.

To contact SIGA, please email: comms@siga-sport.com.

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